After years in the works and 15 drafts, the National Institute of Standards

and Technology’s (NIST) fi nal working defi nition of cloud computing has been published. Why does something so seemingly formless need to be defi ned? So cloud services can be compared and a baseline can be set as a kickoff point for discussing potential benefi ts of using cloud services, including cost savings, energy savings, rapid deployment and customer empowerment. According to the offi cial defi nition, “Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of confi gurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interac- tion.” Five essential characteristics of cloud computing are included: on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity or expansion, and mea- sured service. It also lists three service models (software, platform and infrastructure) and four deployment models (private, community, public and hybrid) that together categorize ways to deliver services via the cloud. Learn more at www.nist.gov/itl/cloud.

Allscripts CEO honored with lifetime achievement award

ACHIEVEMENTS

The College of Healthcare Infor- mation Management Executives (CHIME) Foundation, which represents more than 1,400 of the healthcare industry’s lead- ing CIOs, named Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts, the 2011 win- ner of its Lifetime Achievement Award. Presented Oct. 27 at the CHIME11 Fall CIO Forum in San Antonio, Texas, the award

recognizes contributions to the healthcare IT industry throughout the recipient’s entire career. CHIME cited Tullman as “one of the nation’s leading advocates for the electronic, real-time sharing of healthcare infor- mation to improve patient care, lower costs and drive collaboration among physicians, hospitals and others in the healthcare community.”

6 December 2011

With deadline looming, few healthcare providers prepared for ICD-10 CLAIMS AND CODING

Less than 10 percent of healthcare providers are

over halfway there in terms of being fully prepared for ICD-10, according to the new KLAS report, “ICD-10: Preparing for October 2013.” For this research, KLAS interviewed 163 providers to understand their ICD-10 readiness strategy, major concerns, progress in preparing, confi dence in their core and component vendors’ ICD- 10 readiness, and intentions for using third-party fi rms to assist them.

While providers know a lack of preparation could result in a halt to reimbursements and a revenue cycle disaster when ICD-10 comes, KLAS found that most or- ganizations are still in the strategy/planning phase of their preparation. “We know there is a lot of work to be done. In our opinion, meaningful use is a cakewalk compared to ICD-10,” said one patient accounting director. The research found that many providers have not yet established an ICD-10 budget, while some large health systems are planning to spend tens of millions of dollars on their ICD-10 prep. Nearly two-thirds of providers are engaging or planning to engage with third-party fi rms to assist with at least one preparation step. “It is a feeding frenzy for consultants,” said one healthcare provider. Learn more about ICD-10 readiness preparations at www.KLASresearch.com/reports.

PUBLICATIONS

“Meaningful Use Guide for Radiology” is a free

e

e-book from Merge Healthcare that aims to provide sought-after answers to meaningful use for front-offi ce as- sociates, technologists, radiologists and physician’s association groups. Written in partnership with the Center for Di- agnostic Imaging, this detailed resource provides a step-by-step approach to help radiologists comply with the new law, achieve meaningful-use qualifi ca- tion, earn incentive payments and avoid reimbursement reductions under the HITECH Act.